At the close of the “Greeks Give Back” collection event, Arkansas Tech students had accumulated more than $16,000 in food items such as toaster pastries, snack crackers, pudding, fruit cups, cereal, fresh fruit, cheese and breadstick snacks and microwaveable macaroni and cheese. (THE COURIER / Submitted)

Some of them were gathered around tables or sat on the floor, filling bags and cardboard boxes with food.

Others were carrying armload after armload of food from their cars into Tucker Coliseum. Still more were organizing the 22,000 donated food items so that they could be delivered to the correct elementary school.

Regardless of which Greek organization they are from, students from Arkansas Tech University fraternities and sororities had a common mission on Tuesday evening — fighting hunger among the youth of Russellville.

When the “Greeks Give Back” collection event was finished, ATU students had accumulated more than $16,000 in food items such as toaster pastries, snack crackers, pudding, fruit cups, cereal, fresh fruit, cheese and breadstick snacks and microwaveable macaroni and cheese.

The food will be used to stock the pantries for programs at five elementary schools in the Russellville School District that ensure that children have take-home meals and snacks for weekends and other times when they are not able to eat at school.

“I was speechless last year when I saw the final result, and this is probably four times the amount of food that was brought in then,” said Jamie Beck, coordinator of Greek life in the Arkansas Tech Office of Student Services. “There is a little bit of a competition between the groups because they want to be the one that contributes the most. That’s their nature. But, at the end of the day, it’s awesome to hear them talk about this project and understand why they are doing it.”

The event was part of a week-long Greek Madness celebration on the ATU campus. Fraternities and sororities have participated in a variety of social and service activities throughout the week.

“I am overwhelmed in a great way,” said Caroline Vining of Marshall, a member of Delta Zeta sorority. “Based upon what I had heard, I had a feeling coming into the night that our students were going all out for this event. It melts my heart. I had an opportunity to be one of the students who went and dropped off the food last year, and one of the guidance counselors almost started crying because she was so excited and she knows how many kids it will help. It makes a difference here in Russellville.”

Vining said that students used their own resources, donations from parents and contributions from local businesses to make the event a success.

“I think the best thing for me is that we are going to make a genuine difference in the community,” said Taylor Phoumivong of Fort Smith, a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. “To know that we have all of this food that is going to be feeding children, that is probably the most inspiring part of this. Our Greek organizations are philanthropy and service driven. These are the values that we preach, and so it is important that we put them into practice.”

For more information about ATU Greek organizations, visit www.atu.edu/greeks or call (479) 964-0828.